• Who in the congregation has a healthcare background and is not currently a part of this planning group? How can we get them involved?
• Who do you want to reach?
  
  
  • Members of your congregation
  • The wider community
  • Members of other churches
  • Others
• Who will you partner with to conduct the health fair?
  
  
  • Members of your congregation
  • Other churches
  • Other groups
• What healthcare providers/agencies can you contact for partnering opportunities?
• What is your budget?
• Where do you plan on getting the funding?
  
  
  • Church funds
  • Donations
  • Local government
  • Area organizations/agencies
  • Grants
  • Other sources
• When do you plan on having the health fair? Don't forget to think about weather issues such as excessive temperatures and storms.
• Where do you plan on having the health fair? (indoors/outdoors or both)

Once it has been determined that you want to do a health fair, an assessment needs to be developed and distributed to the congregation and/or community that you are targeting.

A health assessment or survey conducted six to 18 months in advance by the health ministry committee allows for accurate and timely identification of the health needs/interests of members in the congregation. Information provided by this survey will identify age, areas of interest and health concerns to be served by the fair.

If your focus is on the whole congregation, what screening or immunization needs might need to be addressed? If your focus is on a particular age group, what needs might they have?

Some typical screenings are:

• blood cholesterol (total, HDL, LDL, and triglycerides)
• blood glucose
• blood pressure
• skin cancer
• lung capacity
• vision/glaucoma screening
• hearing tests
• body fat
• bone density

All screenings require specific equipment, professional staff and counseling with the individual to interpret and explain the screening scores. The more sophisticated your plan, the more important it is to find a health care provider "partner" in your community.

The health fair committee will initiate the planning. Keep these ideas in mind as you plan:

• Encourage and use all interested volunteers, health professionals, members of the health ministry committee and members of other congregations, agencies and/or organizations (if applicable).
• Strive to get all ages and representatives from groups within the church involved. You may wish to distribute an interest/volunteer sign-up sheet.
• Once members have been organized the fair committee should select a leader or coleaders.

Below are five support areas that are essential to organizing the fair. Consider using these topics as individual subcommittees if the project is large.

• Education
• Screening/clinical
• Publicity/public and community relations
• Facilities/site preparation
• Refreshments/food

For more information, see suggested duties and responsibilities for committees/subcommittee.

6-12 months before the health fair

• Organize a calendar (timeline)
• Schedule meetings
• List short0 and long-term goals
• Evaluate the selected date of fair, keeping in mind issues of weather, competing events within the church and local vicinity and sports events

2-4 months before the health fair

• Review committees and compare against timeline
• Remind the appropriate partners/contributors about the necessity of obtaining signed releases from fair attendees for any invasive procedures (e.g., cholesterol, glucose screens). They will supply their own forms.
• Remember all children need parental consent
• Develop promotional material (ideas should already be formed)

1 month before the Health Fair

• Confirm all vendors, contributors and volunteer commitments
• Confirm all promotion/publicity plans
• Meet regularly from this point forward

1-2 Days before Health Fair

• Prepare site — set up tables, booths, exhibits, chairs, etc.
• Enlist several volunteers for set-up (maintenance staff of church may be able to help with this area)
• Use floor plans for setting up booths/tables
• Set up registration table (needs to be near entrance), including:
  
  
  • Sign-in/registration sheets, including addresses and phone numbers
  • Plenty of pens and pencils for participants
  • Program guide and map of exhibits
  • "Goody bags" for giveaways
  • Assignment list for volunteers
  • Set-up the evaluation area, including forms for exhibitors and participants
  • Placement of signs and flow arrows (both inside and outside)
  • Decorate
  • Set-up the food area
  • Make sure there are enough electrical cords, outlets, audiovisual equipment, etc.

Day of the Health Fair

• Meet early for prayer
• Complete set up as needed
• Be ready one hour before opening
• Have packets ready for each committee member containing a copy of the master vendor list with floor diagram
• Be on hand to greet vendors and volunteers
• Direct and instruct volunteers
• Collect registrations
• Collect evaluations
• Clean up
• Estimate attendance

Evaluation
Go back to the goals of the health fair. Consider the following questions:

• Did you reach the audience you intended?
• Was the health fair promoted appropriately to the audience on which you focused?
• Were the numbers of folks screened close to the numbers predicted?
• Did the various committees follow through on their responsibilities?

Follow-up

• Send thank you letters to exhibitors, volunteers, etc.
• Check with health agencies doing screenings to make sure follow-up is done for all lab results
• Determine and document possible improvements for next time
• Report results to the church, exhibits, media, etc., as appropriate